As is well known, outboard motors for boats are not among the easiest articles to handle, primarily because of their weight and configuration. It is also known that in towing a trailer carrying a boat, it is customary to remove the motor, preferably loading it into the towing vehicle to safeguard it from damage, theft, etc. Many prior arrangements have been resorted to to alleviate the burden of handling the motor, among which are the devices disclosed in such prior Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,423 and Kreck, U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,069. In the Anderson patent, a sliding support is provided in the back of a pickup truck, but this has no means for lifting and lowering a motor. In Kreck, an arm is pivoted rearwardly of the closed truck tailgate on a fore-and-aft axis for swinging the motor from a lowered position to a raised position. There is no mechanism for storing the motor within the vehicle body. The Riley U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,574 shows a power-operated lift device carried in the trunk of an automotive vehicle. This is not intended for outboard motors and does not possess a sliding base or frame. A rather remote arrangement is shown in the Wilburn U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,095 for lifting and storing articles on a vehicle roof.
The present invention offers many advantages over this prior art, such as ease of operation, ready mounting in and dismounting from a truck bed, compactness and low-cost design and utility even in a van or pickup equipped with a "topper", so that the transported motor is stored and cradled safely within the van or topper. Further, the device is slidable rearwardly to extend the "reach" of its boom in handling the motor to and from the vehicle as respects either the transom of a boat or a ground-supported motor support.
Further features and advantages will become apparent as a preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.